Method of and drive for recording medium defect management, and defect managed recording medium

ABSTRACT

A method of and drive for recording medium defect management, and a defect managed recording medium. The defect management method includes: writing first state information that specifies that an update cycle of a temporary defect management structure (TDMS) is open when updating of the TDMS begins, the TDMS containing information regarding temporary defect management; updating the TDMS when data is written to or read from the information storage medium; and writing second state information that specifies that the update cycle of the TDMS is closed, when the updating of the TDMS is completed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/745,124, filed May 7, 2007, now pending, which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 10/824,657, filed Apr. 15, 2004, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,266,064, which claims the priority of Korean Patent ApplicationNos. 2003-26590 filed on Apr. 26, 2003 and 2003-49130 filed on Jul. 18,2003 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/472,122 filed on May 21, 2003 in the USPTO, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a defect management method for arecording medium, a recording medium drive, and a recording mediumtherefor and, more particularly, to a defect management method in whicha primary temporary defect management area and a secondary temporarydefect management area are recorded on the recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Art

Defect management is the process of rewriting data stored in a user dataarea of a disc in which a defect exists to a new portion of the userdata area, thereby compensating for data loss caused by the defect.

In general, defect management is performed using linear replacement orslipping replacement. In linear replacement, the user data area in whicha defect exists is replaced with a spare data area having no defects. Inslipping replacement, the user data area with the defect is slipped andthe next user data area having no defects is used.

Both linear replacement and slipping replacement are, however,applicable only to discs such as a DVD-RAM/RW, on which data can berepeatedly recorded and recording can be performed using a random accessmethod.

In the case of write once read many (WORM) storage media (hereinafterreferred to as “write once recording media”), data cannot be rewrittento the same position since the recording capacities of these media arelimited. Therefore, effective defect management is required, and manyefforts have been made to developing a defect management method forwrite once recording media, using a recording medium drive.

The defect management for write once recording media is performed usinga verify-after-write method. More specifically, a recording medium driverecords data in specified units on a write once recording medium, andthen verifies the recorded data so as to detect the position of aportion of the medium in which a defect exists. Next, the drivererecords the data recorded in the portion having the defect in a sparearea. Next, the drive creates a Temporary DeFect List (TDFL) thatdescribes the positions of the area having the defect and the spare areathat is a substitute for the area having the defect, and createstemporary defect management information (TDDS) specifying the recordingposition of the TDFL. The combination of the TDFL and the TDDS is calleda Temporary Defect Management Structure (TDMS).

Next, the drive stores the created TDFL or TDDS in a memory and recordsthe stored information in a Temporary Defect Management Area (TDMA) ofthe write once recording medium when the amount of information stored inthe memory reaches a predetermined level. The TDMS is updated wheneverdata is recorded on the write once recording medium.

The write once recording medium is finalized when data cannot be furtherrecorded thereon or a user does not want to further record data thereon.During the finalizing of the write once recording medium, a TDMS lastlyrecorded in the TDMA is copied to a Defect Management Area (DMA).

The defect management performed by the recording medium drive on a writeonce recording medium is, however, abnormally discontinued when a powersupplied to the recording medium drive is interrupted due to an abnormalevent such as, for example, a power failure. For example, the recordingmedium drive may undergo a power shortage prior to recording a TDFL or aTDDS, which is created during data recording on the write once recordingmedium, in a TDMA. In this case, the TDMS will not be successfullyupdated. Further, when the write once recording medium is reloaded intothe recording medium drive after restoration of a power supply, thedrive is not capable of checking whether the defect management has beenabnormally terminated or not.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present invention provides a defect management method for write oncerecording media, during which abnormal termination of the defectmanagement caused by an abnormal event such as, by way of non-limitingexample, a power shortage, is checked.

The present invention also provides a recording medium drive whichenables an easy check on abnormal termination of defect managementcaused by an unavoidable accident.

The present invention also provides an information storage medium inwhich abnormal termination of defect management caused by an unavoidableaccident can be easily checked.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided adefect management method for an information storage medium, including:writing first state information that specifies that an update cycle of atemporary defect management structure (TDMS) is open when updating ofthe TDMS begins, the TDMS containing information regarding temporarydefect management; updating the TDMS when data is one of written to andread from the information storage medium; and writing second stateinformation that specifies that the update cycle of the TDMS is closed,when the updating of the TDMS is completed.

The first state information may be written in response to either acommand of opening the TDMS update cycle or a command of writing data onor reading data from the information storage medium.

The updating may include writing the first state information based onthe updated TDMS.

The second state information may be written in response to a command ofejecting the information storage medium.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda defect management method for an information storage medium, the methodincluding: writing first state information, which specifies that anupdate cycle of data is open, to an area of the information storagemedium when updating of the data begins during the writing of data to orthe reading data from the information storage medium; updating thepredetermined data, which is generated when data is one of written toand read from the information storage medium, by writing the data to theinformation storage medium; and writing second state information, whichspecifies that the update cycle of the data is closed, to the area whenthe updating of the information is completed.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a drive including: a pickup that one of writes data on andreads data from a loaded information storage medium; and a controllerthat: controls the pickup to write first state information, whichspecifies that a temporary defect management structure (TDMS) updatecycle is open, in an area of the information storage medium whenupdating of a TDMS containing information regarding temporary defectmanagement begins; controls the pickup to update the TDMS when data iswritten to or read from the information storage medium; and controls thepickup to write second state information, which specifies that the TDMSupdate cycle is closed, in the area when the updating of the TDMS iscompleted.

The controller may control the pickup to write the first stateinformation in the area, in response to either a command of opening theTDMS update cycle or a write/read command.

The controller may control the pickup to write the first stateinformation in the area based on an updated TDMS when the TDMS isupdated during writing of data to or reading of data from theinformation storage medium.

The controller may control the pickup to write the second stateinformation in the area, in response to either a command of ejecting theinformation storage medium or a command of closing the TDMS updatecycle.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a drive including: a pickup that writes data to or reads datafrom a loaded information storage medium; and a controller that:controls the pickup to write first state information, which specifiesthat an update cycle of information is open, in an area of theinformation storage medium when updating of the information beginsduring the writing of the data to or the reading of the data from theinformation storage medium; controls the pickup to update thepredetermined data, which is generated when data is one of written toand reading data from the information storage medium, by writing theinformation on the information storage medium; and controls the pickupto write second state information, which specifies that the update cycleof the information is closed, in the area when the updating of theinformation is completed.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information storage medium that includes a lead-in area, auser data area, and a lead-out area, on which a temporary defectmanagement structure (TDMS) containing information regarding temporarydefect management and update cycle state information regarding the TDMSare written, the update cycle state information specifying whether theupdate cycle of the TDMS is open or closed.

The TDMS may contain temporary defect management information (TDDS) anda temporary defect list (TDFL) and the TDMS update cycle stateinformation is contained in the TDDS.

At least one TDMA may be formed in at least one of the lead-in area, theuser data area, and the lead-out area, and the TDMS and the TDMS updatecycle state information may be written in the TDMA.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information storage medium including information related toand generated during writing of data or reading of written data; andupdate cycle state information that specifies an update cycle of theinformation is open or closed, and is written based on the information.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of determining whether recording of data wasabnormally terminated on an information storage medium due to anabnormal event. The method includes: reading second state informationthat specifies that an update cycle of the TDMS is closed, when updatingof the TDMS is completed. First state information that specifies that anupdate cycle of a temporary defect management structure (TDMS) is openis written when the updating of the TDMS begins, the TDMS containinginformation regarding temporary defect management. The TDMS is updatedwhen data is one of written to and read from the information storagemedium.

Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will beobvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a data structure of a single record layer of a writeonce recording medium, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a data structure of informationrecorded in a temporary defect management area (TDMA);

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a data structure of temporary defectmanagement information (TDDS);

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a drive performing defect management on awrite once recording medium, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of the drive shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 illustrates states of a write once recording medium on whichdefect management is performed, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a defect management method for aninformation storage medium, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the presentinvention by referring to the figures.

In this disclosure, defect management according to various embodimentsof the present invention is described with respect to a write oncerecording medium that is an example of an information storage medium.However, it is to be understood that other media may be used.

FIG. 1 illustrates a data structure of a single record layerrepresentation of a write once recording medium, according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the write oncerecording medium includes a lead-in area, a data area, and a lead-outarea. The lead-in area includes a defect management area (DMA) #1, a DMA#2, a write condition test area, a primary Temporary Defect ManagementArea (TDMA), and a drive information area.

In the data area, a spare area #1, a spare area #2, a secondary TDMA,and a user data area are formed. In the lead-out area, a DMA #3 and aDMA #4 are formed.

In general, a rewritable recording medium includes DMAs but does notinclude a temporary DMA (TDMA), whereas TDMAs are additionally allocatedto a write once recording medium, in addition to DMAs, in considerationof the features of this medium.

More specifically, in the case of a write once recording medium, datarecording is not allowed at a position where data has already beenrecorded. Thus, when information regarding a newly generated defectneeds to be updated during data recording, a recording medium drivereads lastly recorded defect information and updates present defectinformation by additionally recording the newly generated defectinformation in a new cluster. For this reason, as data is more oftenrecorded on the write once recording medium, the amount of defectinformation accumulates and becomes greater.

Meanwhile, since a DMA formed in a conventional rewritable recordingmedium has a small recording capacity, the DMA is usable as an area inwhich defect management is performed. Therefore, a TDMA whose recordingcapacity is larger than the recording capacity of the DMA isadditionally allocated to the write once recording medium.

In the DMA, a temporary defect management structure (TDMS) lastlyrecorded in the TDMA is recorded during finalizing of the write oncerecording medium. In this way, the recording of data on a write oncerecording medium using a recording medium drive is enabled and the timespent on initializing of the write once recording medium is reduced.

The initializing of a recording medium is a process of reading data froma lead-in area or a lead-out area and determining how to manage therecording medium and write data to or read data from the recordingmedium. Therefore, as the amount of information recorded in the lead-inarea or the lead-out area of a recording medium increases, more time isspent on initializing of the recording medium after loading therecording medium into a recording medium drive. A speed of searching fordata recorded in a DMA is still faster than that of searching for datarecorded in a TDMA with a large recording capacity.

Referring to FIG. 1, the write once recording medium includes two TDMAs,i.e., a primary TDMA and secondary TDMAs, in which the TDMS is recorded.As mentioned above, the TDMS contains a Temporary DeFect List (TDFL) andtemporary defect management information (TDDS). The TDFL specifies thepositions of an area having a defect and a spare area that is asubstitute for the area having the defect, and the TDDS specifies therecording position of the TDFL.

The TDMS contains a Space Bit Map (SBM) using bit values to indicatewhether data is recorded in clusters that constitute a whole recordingarea of the write once recording medium, in addition to the TDDS and theTDFL. The SBM is recordable either in an additional cluster or in acluster containing the TDMS.

Inclusion of the secondary TDMA into the data area is optional dependingon the decision of a user or a drive manufacturer. The reason why theinclusion of the secondary TDMA depends on the decision of a user or adrive manufacturer, is to enable the user/disc manufacturer toappropriately use the write once recording medium.

The spare areas #1 and #2 are allocated to the data area duringinitializing of the write once recording medium when defect managementis performed using the recording medium drive.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a data structure of informationrecorded in a TDMA. Referring to FIG. 2, TDDSs and TDFLs are recorded inthe TDMA in cluster units. In the TDMA, an area in which the TDDS isrecorded and an area in which the TDFLs are recorded are notadditionally divided, i.e., they are recorded in the same space of theTDMA. Therefore, the respective TDDSs and TDFLs are recorded in at leastone cluster unit in the sequence in which they are generated (N and kare integers more than 1).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a data structure of a TDDS illustratedin FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 3, a TDDS #i (i is an integer more than 0)specifies the position of a recordable write condition test area, theposition of a TDFL #i corresponding to the TDDS #i, write protectioninformation, an update count indicating the number of updating the TDDS#i, the sizes of spare areas #1 and #2 allocated to a data area, C flag,and so on.

As used in this detailed description, C_flag stands for a “consistencyflag” representing the state of a TDMS update cycle. C_flag is describedin detail later.

Although not shown in the drawings, according to this embodiment of thepresent invention, areas formed in the single record layer of the writeonce recording medium of FIG. 1 are also included in a double recordlayer of a write once recording medium. In the double record layer ofthe write once recording medium, an inner area #0, a data area #0, andan outer area #0 are sequentially formed in a first record layer fromthe inner part to the outer part thereof, and an outer area #1, a dataarea #1, and an inner area #1 are sequentially formed in a second recordlayer from the inner part to the outer part thereof.

Accordingly, defect management according to this embodiment of thepresent invention is performable in a write once recording medium with adouble record layer. A primary TDMA of the second record layer is usablewhen a primary TDMA of the first record layer is full of data, and asecondary TDMA of the second record layer is used when a secondary TDMAof the first record layer is full of data.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a drive performing defect management on awrite once recording medium, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 4, the apparatus includes arecording/reading unit 1, a controller 2, and memory 3.

The recording/reading unit 1 writes data to a write once recordingmedium 4 that is an information storage medium, and reads back the datafrom the write once disc 4 to verify the written data.

The controller 2 performs defect management on data recorded on thewrite once recording medium 4 using a TDMA formed in the write oncerecording medium 4.

In this embodiment, the controller 2 uses a verify-after-write method inwhich data is written on the write once recording medium 4 in specifiedunits and the written data is verified to detect an area of the writeonce recording medium 4 having a defect. More specifically, thecontroller 2 writes user data on the write once recording medium 4 inspecified units, verifies the written user data to detect an area of thewrite once disc 4 in which a defect exists, and creates a TDFL and aTDDS that describe the position of the area having the defect. Next, thecontroller 2 stores the created TDFL and TDDS in the memory 3. If theamount of the stored information reaches a predetermined level, thecontroller 2 writes the stored information in the TDMA of the write oncerecording medium 4.

FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of the drive, shown in FIG. 4, whichcarries out defect management on a write once recording medium,according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.5, the recording medium drive includes a pickup 10 corresponding to therecording/reading unit 1 of FIG. 4. A write once recording medium 4 isloaded into the pickup 10. Also, the drive includes a controller 2 inwhich a PC I/F 21, a digital signal processor (DSP) 22, a radiofrequency (RF) amplifier (AMP) 23, a servo 24, and a system controller25 are installed. A memory 3 is included in the system controller 25 ofthe controller 2.

During a write operation, the PC I/F 21 receives data to be recorded anda write command from a host (not shown). The system controller 25initializes the write once recording medium 4 required for the writeoperation. The DSP 22 receives the data to be recorded from the PC I/F21; error correction code (ECC) encodes the data by incorporatingadditional data, such as parity for error correction, into the data; andmodulates the ECC encoded data using a specified method. The RF AMP 23converts the data output from the DSP 22 into an RF signal. The pickup10 writes the RF signal output from the RF AMP 23 to the write oncerecording medium 4. The servo 24 receives a servo control command fromthe system controller 25 and performs servo control with respect to thepickup 10. Also, in order to perform defect management during the writeoperation, the system controller 25 instructs the pickup 10 to read thedata from the write once recording medium 4 or to write information suchas temporary management information to the write once recording medium4.

Further, the system controller 25 instructs the pickup 100 to write aTDMS, containing TDDS and a TDFL, which is lastly recorded in a TDMA, soas to finalize the write once recording medium 4 when a user command isgiven or predetermined disc finalizing conditions are satisfied.

During a read operation, the PC I/F 21 receives a read command from thehost. The system controller 25 performs disc initialization required forthe read operation. The pickup 10 illuminates a laser beam on the writeonce recording medium 4 and obtains and outputs an optical signal fromthe laser beam reflected from the write once recording medium 4. The RFamplifier 23 converts the optical signal output from the pickup 10 intoan RF signal, provides data modulated from the RF signal to the DSP 22,and provides a servo signal, for servo control, obtained from the RFsignal to the servo 24. The DSP 22 demodulates the modulated data,performs ECC encoding on the demodulated data, and outputs the ECCencoded data. The servo 24 performs servo control on the pickup 10, inresponse to the servo signal output from the RF amplifier 23 and theservo control command output from the system controller 25. The PC I/F21 sends the data received from the DSP 22 to the host. Also, the systemcontroller 25 may instruct the pickup 10 to read information regardingdefect management from the write once recording medium 4 during the readoperation. The system controller 25 manages the whole system during therecording/reading operation.

A defect management method for write once recording media will now bedescribed.

The present invention introduces a consistency flag (hereinafterreferred to as ‘C_flag’) that is information specifying a TDMS updatecycle and the TDMS update cycle states so as to determine whether defectmanagement is abnormally discontinued due to an abnormal event duringrecording data on an information storage medium.

FIG. 6 illustrates states of a write once recording medium on whichdefect management is performed, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 6, a TDMS describes two states ofthe write once recording medium: a TDMS update cycle open state havingC_flag=‘1’, and a TDMS update cycle closed state having C_flag=‘0’. Thevalue of C_flag is determined and recorded according to the state ofupdated TDMS. When a write once recording medium is loaded into arecording medium drive and the C_flag, which is the state informationregarding an updated TDMS, is ‘1’, the drive considers that an abnormalevent such as a power failure occurred during use of the recordingmedium and thus defect management was not normally completed.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, a defect management method for write oncerecording media, according to a another embodiment of the presentinvention, will now be described in detail. First, when a write oncerecording medium 4 is loaded into a recording medium drive (operation10), the TDMS update cycle reaches a state 100. The state 100 indicatesthat data has never been recorded on the write once recording medium 4,or indicates that the write once recording medium 4 enters the TDMSupdate cycle closed state having C_flag=0 which is lastly recorded inthe TDMS when data has been recorded and defect management issuccessfully performed therein.

If data has never been recorded on the write once recording medium 4,the controller 2 records, in a first cluster of a primary TDMA, C_flag=0and information that defect management is performed using the recordingmedium drive, during initializing of the write once recording medium 4.C_flag is recorded in the TDDS as mentioned above with reference toFIGS. 2 and 3.

According to this embodiment, a TDDS having C_flag=1 is recorded and thewrite once recording medium 4 enters a state 110, so that the TDMSupdate cycle is open in response to a host command or according to arecording/reading operation (operation 20) and the write once recordingmedium 4 enters the TDMS update cycle open state.

Two cases where the TDMS update cycle is open are as follows:

I. Opening of the TDMS Update Cycle by a Host Command

When the write once recording medium 4 containing a final TDMS, morespecifically, a lastly recorded TDDS, having C_flag=0 is loaded into therecording medium drive, the controller 2 receives a command of openingthe TDMS update cycle from a host (not shown). Then, the controller 2controls the recording/reading unit 1 to record a TDDS with C_flag=1 ina next TDMS position to the TDMS lastly recorded in the TDMA so as toindicate the TDMS update cycle open state. In this case, the value ofC_flag changes but other information such as a TDFL does not change.Therefore, only a TDDS containing changed C_flag is recorded in a newcluster.

II. Opening TDMS Update Cycle According to Recording/Reading Operation

When the write once recording medium 4 having a lastly recorded TDDSwith C_flag=‘0’ is loaded into the recording medium drive and recordingor reading of data is ready, the host sends a write/read command to therecording medium drive and the recording medium drive performs therecording/reading operation on the write once recording medium 4. If theTDMS needs to be updated during the recording/reading operation, thecontroller 2 controls the recording/reading unit 1 to record a TDDS withC_flag=1 in a next TDMS position to the TDMS lastly recorded in the TDMAso as to indicate the TDMS update cycle open state.

The TDMS is updated after the verify-after-write method once or severaltimes or after writing a predetermined amount of data. At this time, theTDMS is updated to include C_flag=1 and recorded in the TDDS.

Similarly, defect management of updating a TDMS is also performed when acluster is determined to contain a defect during reading of data fromthe write once recording medium 4.

After the state 110 where the value of C_flag is recorded to be 1 andthe TDMS update cycle is open, a recording/reading operation (operation30) is performed and a new TDMS is created and stored in the memory 3.For effective use of the TDMA, the controller 2 preferably performsupdating of the TDMS by recording the TDMS in the TDMA only when thehost gives a command of updating the TDMS (operation 50). At this time,the TDMS is updated so that C_flag=1 is included in the TDDS.

State 120 indicates a disc state, i.e., a TDMS update cycle open statehaving C_flag=1, in which the TDMS can be updated during therecording/reading operation (operation 30). In state 120, when the hostgives a command of updating the TDMS (operation 50), the controller 2updates the TDMS by including C_flag=1 to the TDDS and the TDMS updatecycle reenters the state 100.

After the TDMS update cycle is opened in response to a command to openthe TDMS update cycle given by the host or according to therecording/reading operation, a command to eject the write once recordingmedium 4 from the recording medium drive or a command of closing theTDMS update cycle is given (operation 40). Then, the controller 2controls the recording/reading unit 1 to record a TDDS with C_flag=0 inthe TDMA. Here, C_flag=0 indicates that the TDMS update cycle is closed.When the TDDS with C_flag=0 is recorded in the TDMA, the write oncerecording medium 4 enters the TDMS update cycle closed state 130.

If the host gives a command to close the TDMS update cycle rather than acommand to eject the write once recording medium 4, the TDMS updatecycle enters the state 130 and returns back to the state 100. In thestate 130, when the host gives a command to eject the write oncerecording medium 4, the write once recording medium 4 is ejected fromthe recording medium drive (operation 70).

In the state 130, if a user gives a command of finalizing the write oncerecording medium 4, the controller 2 controls the recording/reading unitto record data such as “ffh” in a vacancy of the TDMA, therebypreventing recording of data, such as a TDMS that contains a TDDS, TDFL,or an SBM, in the TDMA.

As mentioned above, according to this embodiment of the presentinvention, C_flag that indicates two states of the TDMS update cycle,i.e., the TDMS update cycle open state and the TDMS update cycle closedstate, is recorded in the TDMS. Therefore, it is possible to checkwhether an abnormal event, such as a power shortage in the recordingmedium drive, occurred during use of the write once recording medium 4.If a power shortage in the recording medium drive occurred during theuse of the write once recording medium 4, the value of C_flag indicatingthat the TDMS update cycle was open must be finally recorded in theTDMA.

The TDMS is repeatedly recorded to increase the reliability of datadetection. For instance, during updating of the TDMS, the TDMS isrepeatedly recorded in continuous clusters of the TDMA, or a new TDMS isrecorded in a primary TDMA and a copy of the new TDMS is recorded in asecondary TDMA.

Until now, defect management according to an embodiment of the presentinvention has been described with respect to a write once recordingmedium. However, the type of an information storage medium on which thedefect management according to the present invention can be performed isnot limited to this type of medium. That is, defect management for aninformation storage medium, according to the present invention, whichuses an update cycle and cycle state information, is not limited toupdating of a TDMS of a write once recording medium.

As mentioned above, there is a case where an abnormal event such as apower failure occurs when the recording medium drive recordsinformation, which is generated related to data recording or datareading, on a loaded information storage medium periodically or at anytime during a recording/reading operation. In this case, supply of powerto the recording medium drive is interrupted and the recording of theinformation is abnormally discontinued. According to an embodiment thepresent invention, when the information storage medium is reloaded intothe recording medium drive, the recording medium drive determines theabnormal termination of the recording of information by referring tofinal update cycle state information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a defect management method forinformation storage media, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The defect management shown in FIG. 7 is performable using,for example, the drive shown in FIG. 4 or 5. Hereinafter, a defectmanagement method for information storage media according to anembodiment the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 4 and 7.

First, an information storage medium is loaded in action 310. In action320, an update cycle of specific information related to data recordingor data reading is open. In this embodiment, the information storagemedium may be, by way of non-limiting examples, an optical recordingmedium such as a digital versatile disc (DVD), or a hard disc.

Also, the information related to data recording or data reading isinformation that is generated on an information storage medium duringrecording or reading data and needs to be later recorded on theinformation storage medium for data reading. For instance, the data maybe example, defect information regarding a data area of the informationstorage medium. As previously mentioned, the defect information isrecorded in a TDMS formed on a write once recording medium or a DMAformed on a rewritable recording medium.

In this embodiment, the update cycle of the information is described asopen response to a command to open the update cycle or a write/readcommand given by a host (not shown). However, it is to be understoodthat conditions of opening the update cycle may be differently set.

In action 330, when the update cycle of the information is open, thecontroller 2 controls the recording/reading unit 1 to record updatecycle open state information in a predetermined area of the loadedinformation storage medium. The update cycle state information specifiesthe state of the update cycle using a consistency flag. If the value ofthe consistency flag is 1, the update cycle is open. If the value of theconsistency flag is 0, the update cycle is closed.

In action 340, the controller 2 controls the recording/reading unit 1 torecord data on or read data from the information storage medium.

In action 350, the controller 2 creates the specified information thatneeds to be updated whenever data is recorded on or read from theinformation storage medium.

In action 360, the controller 2 determines whether the update cycle ofthe information is completed or not. If it is determined in action 360that the update cycle is not completed, the defect management routinereturns to action 330, the information created in action 350 is recordedon the information storage medium, and the update cycle open stateinformation is recorded thereon again.

However, if it is determined that the update cycle is completed, theinformation created in action 350 is recorded on the information storagemedium and the update cycle closed state information is recorded thereonagain, in action 370.

When recording the update cycle state information in action 330 oraction 370, it is preferable that the update cycle state information isincorporated into the information and the information is recorded on theinformation storage medium. If the update cycle open state informationis firstly recorded after the loading of the information storage medium,the recorded information is compared with previously recordedinformation and the information, in which only the update cycle stateinformation changes from the update cycle closed state information tothe update cycle open state information, is recorded.

As described above, defect management according to the disclosedembodiments of the present invention enables a recording medium drive toeasily perceive abnormal termination of recording data on an informationstorage medium which was caused by an event such as interruption ofpower supply to the recording medium drive due to a power failure, whenthe information storage medium is reloaded into the recording mediumdrive.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, the present invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments. Rather, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined bythe claims and their equivalents.

1. A method for processing data recorded on an information storagemedium, the method comprising: reproducing information indicating anupdate status of a temporary defect management structure (TDMS) from atemporary defect management information (TDDS); and determining whetherupdating of the temporary defect management structure (TDMS) iscompleted or pending, based on the information.